It depends on a domain you are interested in. For visuals it's probably Processing. For server side web it's PHP. For console utilities it's Python. And so on.
JS is widely used but it's the worst programming languages in existence.
What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
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Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#22> My goal is to build a small but real feeling version of my idea to understand and test if there's actually value.
If you are already familiar with Jquery, just make a wireframe of page writes in Javascript that show your concept.
You might even learn something while you're at it.
Once you have the concept mapped, demonstrated, and maybe shown to a potential customer, you can consider learning a more complex javascript framework that might use real data,.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#23Python was designed as an easy to learn language and it has a nice syntax. Its main drawback is in its 'dynamic typing' nature which means that you can make a mistake which can stay hidden for a long time (compared to a compilation error), which is quite annoying. Sorry but I don't know a language which has the same qualities as Python (easy to read, lots of library) but is statically typed..
There's Cython, superset of Python with types. Not something one should start with, too obscure unfortunately.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#24Frankly, why not PHP? I'm happy to smirk along with the PHP hate that shows up on HN and elsewhere, but you hit save in your editor, reload in your browser, and you see the results of what you have done.
Haven't worked much with PHP, but there doesn't seem to be that much in terms of a 'style guide' so it just seems easier to write uglier/wrong code - please correct me if I'm wrong. I usually think it's best newbies start with languages that, in a way, enforce right and wrong ways of doing things (i.e. Rails convention over configuration approach), it just takes a lot of the initial guess work and uncertainty out.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#25Nothing ever beats GWBasic.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#26Frankly, why not PHP? I'm happy to smirk along with the PHP hate that shows up on HN and elsewhere, but you hit save in your editor, reload in your browser, and you see the results of what you have done.
Haven't worked much with PHP, but there doesn't seem to be that much in terms of a 'style guide' so it just seems easier to write uglier/wrong code - please correct me if I'm wrong. I usually think it's best newbies start with languages that, in a way, enforce right and wrong ways of doing things (i.e. Rails convention over configuration approach), it just takes a lot of the initial guess work and uncertainty out.
> it just seems easier to write uglier/wrong code
It's a strange myth that correct code is pretty and wrong code is ugly.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#27I would strongly suggest you reconsider Python and Ruby. Both of those languages are very easy to read and understand -- two very important characteristics for someone just beginning development of their own project. Once you're comfortable with one of those languages, then maybe venture out into other languages. I saw someone else mention PHP -- if you go that route, do learn best practices (e.g., namespacing, sticking to paradigms, etc.). There's a lot of really bad PHP out there, and you can either add to that mess, or be a leader in demonstrating good practices.
Might I also suggest that you spend a few days with a few different languages; if one feels right, then go with that one. You can't get a good feel for the language without using it a bit. Best of luck!
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#28For discussing whether Python and Ruby are too big compared to Javascript or Haskell, I'd like to give you the following UX anaology. You're a cashier at a bank and want to give the best experience for your customer, who just withdrew $248.67 from her account. The Python way would be to give this person two hundred dollar bills, two twenty dollar bills, a five dollar bill, a two dollar bill, a one dollar bill, a fift…
this is a really great way of explaining how the language & compiler work, but doesn't really go into how easy it actually is to learn, syntax, etc
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#29The easiest language to learn is whichever has the best tools available to you to learn with. If you're someone who can just read a book and go from there, try a few books and go with whatever one you like most. If you prefer learning by being taught, find courses need you and learn the language that they teach. If you want to learn online, go to Coursera or Treehouse and pick an option. And so on. Don't choose an "e…
this - I remembered when I tried learning Ruby on a Windows machine. Spent hours just trying to get everything compatible.
php on the other hand was easy to learn in notepad and run on my domain sitting on linux.
Re: What's the Easiest Programming Language I Can Learn
#30C